Psychology Honors ThesesCopyright (c) 2014 Georgia State University All rights reserved.http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses
Recent documents in Psychology Honors Thesesen-usWed, 10 Dec 2014 09:30:22 PST3600Evaluating how Providers’ Competency to Deliver SafeCare® Relates to Provider Training and Family Outcomeshttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/17
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/17Mon, 15 Sep 2014 08:00:24 PDT
Evidence-based programs (EBPs) are the gold standard of prevention and intervention programs to address child maltreatment. SafeCare® is a parent-training EBP that significantly reduces risk factors and occurrences of child neglect and abuse. To ensure that EBPs are being implemented correctly and effectively, it is important to evaluate provider fidelity (adherence to program protocol) and competency (skill level to deliver protocol). Provider fidelity has been more frequently measured than provider competency. However, research has shown competency to be complementary to fidelity, and competency seems to be an important predictor of patient outcomes. The current study used SafeCare to analyze how provider competency relates to provider training and family outcomes. Results showed that provider competency was positively correlated with provider training quizzes but not to provider training role plays or family outcomes. These findings suggest that provider knowledge acquisition during training may be an important factor in providers achieving strong competency in the delivery of an EBP.
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Allison M. Leonard et al.Interactions Between Lexical and Syntactic Knowledge in ESL: Behavioral and Brain Measures of Sentence Comprehension Among Spanish L1 Learners of Englishhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/16
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/16Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:05:23 PDT
We examined event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during comprehension of the English Causative. The main goal was to examine ERP responses to grammatical violations that reflect a mismatch between the verb and the sentence structure. The second goal was to compare effects among native English speakers (NES) and native Spanish speakers learning English as a second language (ESL). We expected group differences to reflect different neurolinguistic processes, particularly for sentences that are well-formed in English, but not in Spanish.

The English Causative is a grammatical construction that is syntactically ditransitive ('SubjNP–V–ObjNP–PP') and means '[someone]–[CAUSED-by-doing-X]–[something]–[change-of-state]'. An example is the sentence, Jack sent his sister to the store, which implies that Jack (SubjNP) caused his sister (ObjNP) to undergo a change of location (PP) by sending her (V). Importantly, only certain verbs are permitted within this construction: In English, ditransitive verbs (e.g., send), are allowed, as are alternating unaccusatives, such as walk (Jack walked his sister to the store). Non-alternating unaccusatives, such as arrive, are disallowed, even when the sentence has a meaningful interpretation (*Jack arrived his sister to the store). To comprehend these structures as they unfold in time, a language-user must therefore reconcile word- and clause-level constraints and dynamically update his or her understanding throughout the sentence.

In the present study we asked nine NES and eight ESL participants to view a series of sentences, presented one phrase at a time, while we recorded their EEG. Each sentence was intransitive ('SubjNP–V' ), transitive ('SubjNP–V–ObjNP'), or ditransitive ('SubjNP–V–PP'), and was followed by a response probe. The task was to say whether each sentence was acceptable. Brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG) and processed to create ERPs. We had four predictions. First, we predicted that the ObjNP following an intransitive verb would elicit a P600 effect, reflecting a syntactic violation (e.g., *Jack walked/arrived his sister). Second, for non-alternating (arrive-type) verbs, we predicted that a subsequent PP (e.g., *Jack arrived his sister to the store) would elicit a P600 effect, whereas Alternating (walk-type) verbs would elicit a minimal or no P600. Third, we expected that ESL partiticpants, like NES participants, would show an P600 effect to the ObjNP for sentences containing intransitives. However, in contrast with English, we predicted that the final PP would elicit an error-related response among ESL participants for walk-type verbs, as well as for arrive-type verbs.

Study results partly confirmed our predictions. The two groups showed similar patterns of acceptability, although ESL participants were slower overall. As predicted, the ObjNP elicited a P600 effect for arrive-type verbs for NES participants. Interestingly, ESL participants exhibited N400 rather than P600 effects to the ObjNP. Further, in response to the PP, both groups exhibited N400 effects to arrive-type verbs, without a subsequent P600 effect.

In summary, although their behavioral patterns did not differ, ERPs revealed group differences in verb–construction mismatches at different points in the sentence. The pattern of N400 and P600 responses was partly unexpected. We consider implications for syntax-semantic interactions, integration of word- and clause-level information, second-language learning, and functional correlates of N400 and P600 effects.

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G. Taylor BrooksContributions of Caregivers Interaction to Infant Attentionhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/15
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/15Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:25:21 PDT
Research shows the way adults communicate with children can be classified into two main categories: Adult Directed Speech (ADS) and Infant Directed speech (IDS) (Schachner & Hannon, 2011). Past research focused on the maternal use of IDS; however, the current study investigated differences in maternal and paternal use of IDS. We hypothesize that 1) there will be a difference in the amount of paternal caregiving depending on mothers’ work status, 2) the acoustic properties of IDS will be influenced by the amount of parental involvement in caregiving activities, and 3) infants will pay more attention to parents who use more exaggerated IDS. No changes were found for paternal involvement when mothers were employed compared to when mothers were not employed. No relationships were found between IDS, parental involvement, or infants’ attention. These findings provide a better understanding of fathers’ contributions in caregiving and their influences on infants’ cognitive development.
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Nahomie JulienFos Activation in the BST Following Juvenile Social Subjugationhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/14
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/14Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:05:15 PST
Females are disproportionately affected by stress- related mood disorders. Child abuse is the single greatest environmental risk factor for mood disorders. An animal model of child abuse, juvenile social subjugation (JSS), was used to determine whether males and females differentially process stress, specifically in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). Rats (n=36) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: JSS, Benign Control (BC) or Handled Control (HC). Following this procedure, brains were processed for Fos, which indicates neural activity. It was hypothesized that the JSS condition would evoke more neural activation than other conditions and would do so more in females. Across both sexes, we hypothesized there would be significantly more activation in the posterior BST than in the anterior BST. Based on earlier research, we hypothesized there would be and a sex difference in total neuron number, favoring males, in the posterior BST.
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Chandler E. PuhyIslamic Parochial Education in the United States: A Study of Two Atlanta-Area Schoolshttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/13
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/13Thu, 31 May 2012 10:11:02 PDT
Through a comparative study of two Atlanta full-time Muslim parochial schools, this study examines Muslim approaches to Islamic education by analyzing school leaders' secular and religious goals, their main obstacles and concerns, and what they believe the best practices are. The study explores leaders’ visions of socialization and community development by juxtaposing findings from two schools. In order to answer the aforementioned questions, this study 1) assesses national trends in K-12 Islamic parochial schools across the United States through related research, 2) engages Muslim leaders from both institutions through semi-formal interviews, and 3) supplements findings through an extended period of participant observation.
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Sacha M. St-Onge AhmadAcculturative Stress and Gang Involvement among Latinos: U.S.-born versus Immigrant Youthhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/11
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/11Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:49:07 PDT
Quantitative and qualitative data from the 2002 Latino Adolescent Transition Study were used to explore differences in acculturative stress and gang involvement between foreign-born and U.S.-born Latino middle school students. Regression analyses showed significant interactions between discrimination stress and immigration status as well as adaptation stress and immigration status. U.S.-born youths were significantly more likely to be gang-involved if they experienced discrimination stress. They were also less likely to be gang-involved if they experienced high adaptation stress. A minority of primarily foreign-born youths identified economic inequality and prejudicial attitudes as factors that differentiated them from Americans. Those reporting economic inequality were more likely to be gang-involved than those who did not. These findings suggest that the origins of gang involvement could differ between the two immigrant generations. Whereas U.S.-born Latinos may be more negatively affected by discrimination, foreign-born Latinos may be more sensitive to their comparatively low economic status.
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Alice N. BarrettTask-Demand Effects on Self-reported Stress Statehttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/9
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/9Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:12:53 PST
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Stefanie C. Wellons et al.The Effect of Auditory Sensory Abnormalities on Language Development in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorderhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/8
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/8Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:43 PST
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by atypical development in the domains of social, emotional, language and cognitive functioning in the first few years of life. Research indicates an associated phenomenon of sensory processing abnormalities in the ASD population (Baker, Lane, Angley, & Young, 2008), and specifically auditory domain (Tecchio et al., 2003) which may relate to language deficits (Baranek, David, Poe, Stone & Watson, 2006). This study researched the effect of auditory sensory abnormalities on language in young children with ASD (n = 118), specifically receptive and expressive language and prosody. A specific subdomain of auditory abnormalities, sensory seeking, was found to be predictive of expressive language (β = .30, p=.009), perhaps due to a focus on auditory stimuli to the exclusion of expressive language interaction. There was no significant effect for receptive language (β = .16, p=.16) and prosody (β = -.09, p=.493).
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Melissa Tatyana NikolicSet-Switching and Learning Transferhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/7
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/7Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:43 PST
In this experiment I investigated the relationship between set-switching and transfer learning, both of which presumably invoke executive functioning (EF), which may in turn be correlated with intelligence. Set-switching was measured by a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sort Task. Another computer task was written to measure learning-transfer ability. The data indicate little correlation between the ability to transfer learning and the capacity for set-switching. That is, these abilities may draw from independent cognitive mechanisms. The major difference may be requirement to utilize previous learning in a new way in the learning-transfer task.
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C. Dustin JohnsonEthnic and Racial Differences in Emotion Perceptionhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/6
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/6Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:42 PST
This study analyzed racial differences in the way African Americans and Caucasians perceive emotion from facial expressions and tone of voice. Participants were African American (n=25) and Caucasian (n=26) college students. The study utilizes 56 images of African American and Caucasian faces balanced for race and sex from the NimStim stimulus set (Tottenham, 2006). The study also utilized visual and auditory stimuli form the DANVA2. Participants were asked to judged emotion for each stimulus in the tasks. The BFRT, the WASI, and the Seashore Rhythm test were used as exclusionary criteria. In general the study found few differences in the way African Americans and Caucasians perceived emotion, though racial differences emerged as an interaction with other factors. The results of the study supported the theory of universality of emotion perception and expression though social influences, which may affect emotion perception, is also a possibility. Areas of future research were discussed.
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Linda ChengI Wish I were a Tiger... Domestic Violence Research with Children Who Have Witnessed Domestic Violencehttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/5
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/5Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:42 PST
This paper presents the results of a study conducted at a domestic violence safehouse for an undergraduate Honors Thesis. Twenty-three children ages 4-16 from African American and immigrant communities were interviewed while residing at a safehouse for victims of domestic violence regarding their beliefs and attitudes about perceptions of self, conflict resolution skills, and feelings of anger and coping strategies. The study found a strong relation between length of stay & positive coping strategies. Age & gender were also related to conflict resolution skills. Qualitative data provided interesting & potentially important insights into children’s internal experiences of being witnesses of domestic violence. The study did not support past research in terms of child witnesses exhibiting low self-esteem, poor conflict strategies, and high rates of aggression. This study concludes that more research needs to be conducted on protective factors and resiliency to the effects of domestic violence to explain this study’s results.
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Margaret Pearman JonesGender Bias in Observer Ratings of Pediatric Procedural Painhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/3
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/3Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:41 PST
The current study attempted to discern the extent to which a gender bias influences the adult ratings of observed childhood pain. While gender differences in pain sensation are well documented in physiologically mature individuals, there seems to be no such difference in children. The effect of manipulating gender on the procedural pain ratings of 201 university undergraduate and nursing students was examined via a deceptive pain observation task. Results demonstrated no significant difference between gender conditions; however a strong link was established between prior exposure to painful pediatric medical procedures and lower pain ratings. The results suggest that, while a gender bias failed to alter pain ratings, desensitization to viewing painful procedures could alter how much pain healthcare professionals believe a patient is experiencing.
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Jeff SimsEmotional Awareness and Psychophysiological Markers of Performance on the Iowa Gambling Taskhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/4
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/4Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:41 PST
The present study examines the relationship of emotional awareness to anticipatory psychophysiological markers and performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The IGT is a computerized card game that simulates real-life decisions through uncertainty of reward or punishment. The participant’s goal is to make advantageous card choices. Anticipatory somatic markers of physiological arousal, like electrodermal activity and heart rate, have been proposed to bias decisions in the IGT. The central hypothesis is that a participant’s emotional awareness is related to their ability to make advantageous decisions through biasing psychophysiological responses. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to assess each participant’s emotional awareness. Less emotional awareness was associated with enhanced performance on the IGT. However, anticipatory physiological arousal (electrodermal activity and heart rate) and emotional awareness yielded no significant relationships. Findings suggest a need for further research on cognitive models, such as the expectancy valence model, in relation to decision-making.
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Cory InmanEating, Body Satisfaction, Ethnicity, and Women's Relationship with Godhttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/2
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/2Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:40 PST
The hypotheses of the current study are that (1) black women will be more spiritual and (2) will have more knowledge of the Holy Spirit than white women, and (3) spirituality will be negatively correlated with eating disorder symptomatology and body dissatisfaction. (4) African American women will have lower body dissatisfaction and (5) less eating disorder symptomatology than Caucasian women. It is predicted that (6) ethnicity will have more influence on eating disorder symptomatology and spirituality than current and ideal weight. (7) Current weight will have more influence on body dissatisfaction than ethnicity or ideal weight. Finally, (8) the ideal weight of black women will be higher than that of white women. Participants included 95 African American and Caucasian female college students. All the hypotheses were supported. Prospective research can discern whether racial differences in spirituality have causal influence on healthier body image held by many black women.
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Sharrunn Nicole RhoneThe Utilization of the Q-Sort Methodology to Develop a Measure of Women's Response to Intimate Partner Violencehttp://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/1
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/psych_hontheses/1Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:40 PST
Q- sort methodology was used to detect underlying structures in 45 statements that reflect women’s attempts to make themselves feel better after incidents of abuse. Eight dichotomous categories were created as plausible descriptors of the 45 statements within the measure. Graduate and advance undergraduate students used the categories to sort the 45 statements. The individual sorts were input with PQMethod software. The Centroid method was used for data analysis. Three of the eight proposed categories were supported: perspective (i.e. the woman’s thought and perceptions regarding the abusive relationship), health behavior, and social relationship. Data analysis displayed that the 45 “feel better” items are able to be grouped into meaningful categories.
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Tiffany Lenell Young